Listen to this articleThe basics:
- Factory testing completed for the first two Hudson Tunnel Project TBMs
- Custom-built machines will ship from Germany to New Jersey in early 2026
- First TBM is expected to begin tunneling beneath the Hudson River in spring
- Gateway Development Commission approved construction updates and budget actions
The Gateway Development Commission marked a major milestone for the Hudson Tunnel Project, announcing at its Dec. 15 board meeting that manufacturing and factory testing of the first two tunnel boring machines has been completed.
The announcement signals the project’s upcoming transition from preparation to active tunneling, with the massive machines now being shipped to New Jersey for on-site assembly in early 2026.
“We are on the verge of a new phase of the Hudson Tunnel Project,” Alicia Glen, New York GDC commissioner and co-chair, Balpreet Grewal-Virk, New Jersey GDC commissioner and co-chair, and Tony Coscia, GDC Amtrak commissioner and vice chair, said in a joint statement.
“Completing factory acceptance tests for the first set of tunnel boring machines is a significant milestone,” said GDC CEO Tom Prendergast.
The two TBMs were custom-designed and manufactured at a specialized facility in Germany specifically for the Hudson Tunnel Project.
What do they do?
The TBMs are highly complex, purpose-built machines that will simultaneously bore the two parallel tunnel tubes beneath the Hudson River on the New Jersey side. As they advance, the machines will install the concrete tunnel lining behind them. Each TBM is expected to construct approximately 30 feet of tunnel per day – and will be used to build roughly one mile of the new rail tunnel.
Factory acceptance testing for the first TBM was completed in September, with testing of the second machine concluding in early December. Components of the first TBM are now en route to the United States, with shipments arriving in January at Port Elizabeth, and Baltimore, before being transported to the construction site in North Bergen. On-site assembly and testing will take approximately three months, putting the first TBM on track to begin tunneling in the spring.
The second TBM will ship from Germany in early 2026 – with components arriving in March and tunneling expected to begin in the summer.
“When the two tunnel boring machines that were manufactured this year begin their journey under the Palisades, it will represent a major step forward for the project,” said Glen, Grewal-Virk and Coscia.
“They are massive, highly complex machines that have been custom-built for the Hudson Tunnel Project,” said Prendergast. “Producing them is an impressive feat in-and-of itself. The two years of work that our teams on the ground in New Jersey have done to prepare for the arrival of the TBMS is just as impressive.”
Construction updates
NJBIZ visited the five active construction sites of the HTP earlier this year.
At the meeting GDC also provided construction updates for the five active sites:
- Completion of the Tonnelle Avenue bridge structure and opening of the passage beneath it, allowing TBM components to be delivered
- Continued excavation of the portal launch box at the base of the Palisades, where the TBMs will be assembled and tunnel boring will begin
- Start of construction on the Hudson Yards Concrete Casing – Section 3, including the first major concrete pour
- Ongoing deep soil mixing and ground stabilization in the Hudson River, with roughly 60,000 square feet stabilized and the cofferdam shifted toward Manhattan
- Installation of guide walls and beginning work on slurry walls at the Hudson County and 12th Avenue access shafts, along with ground stabilization in Hudson River Park
Board actions approved at the meeting included:
- Authorizing early work additions to the Tonnelle Avenue Project to support the future NJ Surface Alignment contract
- Approving an amendment with NJ Transit to facilitate property acquisition for upcoming construction packages
- Adoption of the commission’s final fiscal year 2026 operating budget
“We could not have reached this point without the support of our partners in Washington and the states,” the commissioners noted. “We look forward to continuing to work together to deliver the most urgent passenger rail project in the country in the new year.”
Prendergast added, “Reaching this milestone on schedule sends a clear message: GDC is delivering as promised, and we will continue to deliver in the years ahead.”
The updates come just weeks after the Trump administration created uncertainty around the project, with the president announcing that the work was “terminated” during the government shutdown and the budget director ordering a funding freeze. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy, however, insisted later that the project would continue. “The president in his budget fully funded these projects,” Duffy said. “We’re not trying to shut down these projects.”
